Guns, Germs and Steel, Collapse and The World Until Yesterday

Jared Diamond is the prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies; Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed; and The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies.

A noted polymath, whose research draws on many decades of active fieldwork research, his work has been influential in the fields of anthropology, biology, ornithology, ecology and history, among others.

This special session looks at all his work and especially The World Until Yesterday, an epic journey into our rapidly receding past, revealing how tribal societies offer an extraordinary window into how our ancestors lived for millions of years – until virtually yesterday, in evolutionary terms – and how they can provide unique, often overlooked insights into human nature.

As Diamond reminds us, the West achieved global dominance due to specific environmental and technological advantages, but Westerners do not necessarily have superior ideas about how to raise children, care for the elderly, or simply live well.

In this event, Jared Diamond provides a mesmerizing first-hand picture of the human past that also suggests profound lessons for how we can live today and how our societies can prosper for all.

This event was held in conjunction with the Bristol Festival of Ideas and the Cabot Institute.

Full details can be found on the Bristol Festival of Ideas website.